Have Gun - Will Travel (1957–1963): Season 1, Episode 4 - Winchester Quarantine - full transcript

There's an irritating roughness
about the way you people speak.

Makes me obstinate.

If you want me to leave,
you're going to have to make me.

Whoa.

Bridesville, folks.

Can't you finish him, Peavey?

( grunting)

( shouts)

All right, break
it up, break it up!

Would you be after
killin' him, McNally?

That murderin' Indian is
still keeping diseased stock.



Then take your fight
and fight it up in the hills

where you belong.

It's the public streets
you're obstructing.

And who shot that horse?

We told him it would happen.

He can't say we didn't warn him.

You'll get this
treatment till you get rid

of every head of
stock on your place.

And I'm warning you, Indian,

if one of our animals
comes down sick,

we'll see more than you just
don't cross your boundaries.

We'll burn you out,
house, hide and hair.

Now get that
carcass out of here.

There's sickness enough without
you savages spreading more.



All right, come on,
break it up, break it up.

Pardon me.

Not interested in my
business card, huh?

So, you're the one
that put it in my pocket.

If I had the money to hire you,

I would not be walking
20 miles to my place.

I would have another horse.

Throw your saddle
over my extra one.

I happen to be going your way.

No obligation.

Before I take a favor, it's
only right I should tell you...

if I had the money,
I wouldn't hire you.

I don't hold with men
who follow the gun.

I agree, Mr. Whitehorse...
it's not a practical profession.

I had 150 prime, healthy cows.

Now ten are dead,
the rest ready to fall.

I paid for them with
sweat and blisters.

Has the veterinarian
looked at them?

Can't get him to come
out and have a look.

I'm a mission Indian, Cherokee.

An educated Indian
has few friends

among his people...
and fewer among yours.

Certainly very
few in Bridesville.

I cannot trade in the stores.

I have to buy my stuff through
the man who runs the pharmacy.

He is about the only one
who will admit we're human.

My neighbors have such a
tight quarantine around me, I...

I have to sneak off my
own place like a thief.

You see how rich
everything is around here?

This is land a
man would fight for.

My father wore
feathers in his hair,

lived in a teepee, and
fought the white man.

He sent me to the Indian school.

We learned to live and
think like the white man.

He said that was the only way
we could have a home in our land.

I met, married my
wife at the mission.

We have built our home.

We will not be driven
from our land like my father.

( gunshot)

That's Joe Peavey,
the one I was fighting...

The one who killed my horse.

McNally's foreman?

More his troublemaker.

Oh, you got yourself
another horse.

The one you shot cost me $20.

You're going to
have to pay for that.

Sure. I'll wait for
you at the county line

and hand it to you
as you go across.

You a friend of his, or
you just passing through?

You ask that like a man
hoping for the wrong answer.

Don't spook this man, Peavey.

He's a gunfighter.

You working for an Indian?

He hasn't hired me yet.

You're just a half a
mile from his boundary.

You aim to keep going?
I thought I'd look around.

It ain't that simple, Mister.

You can ride that horse in,
but you try to ride him out,

and he'll go down
with a slug in his head.

That's a very unpleasant thing
to contemplate, Mr. Peavey.

Well, you just
contemplate it anyway.

No horse comes off that
ranch, yours or nobody's.

They mean that. You'll
lose two good horses.

I'll walk the rest of the way.

You'll ride. You've used
my horse for 15 miles.

I expect a man who's
done that to rub him down

and ask me to sit at
table, Mr. Whitehorse.

( cattle lowing)

See? Another one dying.

I don't know what
I'm going to do.

They just keep losing
weight and dying.

Between this and McNally,

I don't know how much
longer I can hold out.

A violent man is Mr. McNally.

His father and brother
were scalped by the Sioux

35 years ago.

Tell me, what has
this to do with me?

Does a gunslinger
come high, Mr. Paladin?

Well, Mrs. Whitehorse, I
do have expensive tastes.

Joseph... I like it here.

I want to live here.

I think that right now
all we need is time.

I think in time we'll find out
what is sickening our cattle

and-and have us a healthy herd.

And let the neighbors
hate us if they must.

But we know that is
their burden, Martha.

Joseph, if this man can
scare them into leaving us be...

I will hear no
more of this talk.

Joseph!

You have had three beatings,

and-and you know
it won't stop at that.

You carry your gun,
but-but you say it's for snakes

and deadly things,
and-and not for killing people.

Well, good. That's
what we were taught,

and I respect you
for holding to it, but...

but they have put a
circle of guns around us,

and-and what are we to do now?

I do not know.

My father would've killed,

but at the mission school,
where I got my education,

they taught me to
think like a white man.

Now I'm confused. I do not know.

Well, here is a
white man who does.

We have no money...
but this is rich land,

and we will give you
part of it if you will help...

This is Martha's day
to need forgiveness.

She is carrying our first child,

and she is easily upset.

I'm sure it'll be
a fine youngster.

I'm sorry, Mrs. Whitehorse,
I don't care to own land.

It's a thing that
grows to a man's feet,

and that's not the kind of
a life I've chosen for myself.

Well, then you have
wasted your journey,

because all we have to
offer is cows that are dying

and land we are
being driven from.

You told Peavey he'd have
to pay for that horse he shot.

I don't mind taking
over that debt,

and I'll trade you the
horse you rode home on.

But that is a fine horse.

You are cheating yourself.

I may ask Peavey to throw
in something else of value.

Thank you for your hospitality.

Hold on, which one
are you aiming at?

The horse... but
what if I hit the rider?

Do you know anybody
who'd start crying?

He's not even trying
to ride off the ranch yet.

Well, suppose he
tries and makes it?

What do you think
we're here for?

( gunshot)

Get out of here! Go on! Hyah!

You did that shooting?

This here's the
Indian's boundary.

We warned you clear enough.

I remember.

Now I'll use one of your
horses to get me back to town.

You lay a hand on that
bridle, you Injun lover, and I'll...

You want some?

Tell McNally what happened.

He'll find me in town.

( bell dinging)

Yes, sir?

Lovely type. What
if I ask you to test it?

Mister, I've got enough
stuff in bottles and jars

to test every substance
known to man,

with the possible exception
of the local mentality.

Well, that's what
I wanted to know.

Of course, there's
always this way.

Wish I had a thousand like it.

Keep that one for a starter.

You're kind of
generous for a stranger.

You just passing through?

I may be staying at
McNally's for a few days.

I'm not impressed.

That's careless talk, Mister.

I understand McNally is
a big man around here.

Mister, I've watched your
friend being big around here

for about five years,
and I'm getting tired of it,

and you can tell him so.

Now, what can I do for you?

Do you know the Whitehorses?

You mean our thieving, scalping,
overeducated local Indians?

I do... and before
you say your piece,

let me inform you this
is the only store in town

that'll do business with
him and proud to say it.

Now, what's on your mind?

Well, I guess I've
come to the right place.

Now, then...

we begin with the
word "suppose"...

McNally.

That's Peavey's
horse, all right.

Well, let's have a
look at this gun shark.

McNally, he's fast.

Go on back to your ranch if
you feel your saddle slipping.

There's enough of us
here to slow him down.

Gentlemen.

You pistol whip my
foreman, steal his horse?

I disciplined your
foreman, Mr. McNally.

As to the horse, Peavey owed
Joe Whitehorse for one he shot.

I took over the
debt and settled it.

You working for Whitehorse?

What kind of men
are we breeding,

taking wages from an Indian?

I couldn't get a
dollar out of him.

He doesn't have one.
That's why I'm here.

And from here, you can
see the road out of town.

There's an irritating roughness
about the way you people speak.

It makes me obstinate.

You want me to leave
town, Mr. McNally?

Well, you're the loud
spokesman for this community.

Wouldn't you like to try?

I'm an honest man.
I'm not a gunfighter.

Well, gentlemen,

we've established
one interesting fact.

If I do lease my services

to Joe Whitehorse, we
know exactly how you'll react.

If you're not with the Indian,

what are you deviling us for?

I want to be hired.

We're doing fine by ourselves.

Neglecting your ranches,
staying away from your work

while you try to starve him out?

He don't have to starve;
he can sell me his place.

I offered to buy him out the
first day I knew what he was,

but there's nothing
more stubborn

than an educated Indian.

Did you offer him a profit?

I offered him
what he paid for it.

Ask anybody. I'm asking you.

Does the offer still hold?

Yeah... if somebody
can make him take it.

You saying you can?

All you have to decide

is how willing you
want that Indian to be.

Well, boys?

I'm buying the land.

Do I have to fight your battle
for you, or are you with me?

Kelso's in with the rest of us.

Let's go open a bottle and talk.

I thought you wanted action.

Well, good.

Get on out there right
away. No, McNally,

first you go to the bank
and withdraw certain funds.

I'm sure Joe Whitehorse
will want to be paid off in cash.

That's a lot to trust you with.

I see your point.

Well, you may carry it,

and, McNally, carry
an extra $2,000. My fee.

$2,000?

That's right. My
fee just went up.

How much money
do you think I've got?

How much do you hate Indians...
especially the educated variety?

All right. I'll go to the bank.

Well, you look like a happy man.

Five years I've been dozing
among these backwards heathens.

Five years with the
most complete laboratory

in this territory
gathering dust,

and all the while
pleading with 'em

to submit their problems

to the analysis of
modern science.

Not a chance...

not with a McNally
telling 'em how to think.

Science has absolutely
no standing in a community

where they still
bury chicken heads

by the light of the
moon to get rid of warts.

Here we go.

I'm only guessing at
what we're looking for.

They're waiting, Mr. Whitehorse.

You've already
overtaxed their patience.

Perhaps you did not
understand me, Mr. Paladin.

When I said I was stubborn,

that meant I would not
be pushed off my land.

I'm staying here.

I already told
McNally you'd sell.

Then tell him you were mistaken.

Why are you doing this?

Why should you
force us off our land?

Is-is it the money
we can't pay you?

Mrs. Whitehorse, it's
my considered opinion

that this land should
belong to McNally.

And what if that
is not my opinion?

What if I were to say

I were not afraid to stand
up to that gun of yours?

Well, now that would
make everything

very uncomfortable for me.

You're no better
than the others.

You wouldn't turn on
us if we weren't different.

We didn't come
here to hurt anybody.

The mission didn't teach
us to hate and to kill.

We want to live in peace,

to have a home and
to build for ourselves

and those that come after,

and you know that about us.

You know we want to live.

It's our strength that makes
us move on, not yours.

All right, sell it, Joseph.

Give them their bill of sale,
and let's get out of here.

( pen scratching)

There.

Now you have earned your money.

Thank you.

I'll tell McNally he
can take possession.

But just give us time
to pack and leave

so we don't have to look at him.

I don't think he'll be here

more than a few moments.

Looks like I bought me a ranch.

All right, boys, you
know what to do.

( man shouts)

( gunshots)

They're killing them!

Did you know he
was going to do this?

I didn't think even
McNally was that stupid.

Oh, when will you meet
a gun faster than yours?

I cannot see how I
figured you so wrong.

All signed and delivered, huh?

It's your ranch

and you're killing
your own cattle.

Ah, filthy,
disease-ridden critters.

How'd you make
out with the Indian?

Did he pull his tommyhawk?

I'm afraid he's given
up the ways of his father.

Come into the house

and get your bill of sale.

I've got no use for a critter

that hangs on when he
knows he ain't wanted.

Here is your ranch.

I have the feeling
you were itching for it

even before my cows took sick.

Whitehorse, you learn
something from this business.

You Indians have
reservations all over the country.

That's where you belong.

Forget your fool education

and go on back to your teepee.

There's one item we
don't want to forget...

$2,000.

See me in town.

I see you right now,
Mr. McNally, perfectly.

You needed a
gunslinger to get rid of us.

We'd have had the land
yet if it weren't for him.

I did you a great
service, Mrs. Whitehorse.

This land is useless.

It's poisoned.

Poisoned?

Poisoned?

Don't ever try to pasture
cattle out here, McNally.

They'll die.

You telling me what I can do?

If that disease is
in here that thick,

I'll burn this place
to the ground.

Every tree, every
blade of grass.

There'll be no disease
when I get through.

I had the soil analyzed.

There's a particular element
that sometimes occurs

in excessive amounts.

When that happens,
it affects the vegetation

and that's what we have here.

But you said poison.

Almost as bad as poison.

When the cattle
eat that vegetation...

Right here on our land?

On McNally's
land, almost all of it.

There's no such thing.

I'm sorry to say there is.

I saw this cattle
sickness once before

down on the San Joaquin range.

There's no poison in dirt.

I've lived on the
land all my life.

Dirt is dirt.

Except when it's called soil

and then it becomes
a particular thing.

The particular
thing that you bought

would have ruined these
people in just a short time.

You really should have waited.

What kind of hogwash?

You believe this?

Is this what you were
tending to over at Rheinhart's?

He's an excellent chemist.

I never heard of such
a thing in all my life.

Well, it's not particularly new.

Molybdenum has been
known for centuries.

It looks somewhat
like white iron.

It can be found
anywhere in the world.

As a matter of fact, Pliny
wrote about molybdenum

when he was in the
employ of the Emperor Nero.

Now there was a
man of prejudice.

He kept lions for the
people he didn't like.

What the blazes are
you talking about?

Talk English.

I'll spell it out for you.

I'm sure Mrs.
Whitehorse won't mind.

The house belongs
to Mr. McNally now.

The criminal is called...

molybdenum.

Hereafter known
as "McNally's folly."

And you shouldn't
have killed those cattle.

You could have saved them.

Paladin, let me
understand one thing.

You knew about this all along?

Let's say I suspected it.

When you took my money?

Well, Rheinhart
hadn't confirmed it.

Oh, you've been had, McNally.

This land is useless to you.

And you better have Rheinhart
check every acre in this valley.

All right. I've been out-traded.

But I don't lose all.

You're still leaving here.

I do not want your
money this way.

It's been in your hands.
I wouldn't touch it.

But this fella,

he's got some money I
don't mind taking back.

And I mean to take it.

Ease up, Clyde. So
you went over the saddle.

It happens to every man.

Not to me.

( two gunshots)

Never draw in
anger, Mr. McNally.

It slows the hand.

Get outside.

Outside!

If you're looking for
some land to buy,

I have a section

you might care for.

Thank you.

We will see you in town.

No, drop by the house.

You'll meet my wife.

Well.

Well, I'm sorry

to have given you
some bad moments,

but it's very difficult to
conspire with an honest man.

Oh, Mr. Paladin, you
had a very close call.

Well, fortunately, the
close ones don't count.

Oh, I don't mean McNally.

This was going to be
my last word to you.

But, Martha, I never
keep that gun loaded.

( all laugh)